Nine more drugmakers sign Trump Medicaid pricing deals, bringing total to 26

Nine pharmaceutical companies agreed to offer medicines at discounted prices to every state Medicaid program, raising the announced total from 17 companies to 26. The system links U.S. prices to lower prices in other developed countries, where prescription drugs cost nearly one-third as much. Trump said participating companies represent 90% of the domestic pharmaceutical market. The nine new firms also pledged $19.6 billion for U.S. manufacturing, though the sources give no earlier total for comparison. No source identifies the resulting savings for patients or governments. Medicaid already receives discounts required by law, and its enrollees generally have limited prescription copays. Trump called the terms "a tremendous discount" and said the remaining companies "have no choice" but to join.

What the deals do not say:

• Which medicines are covered, and at what price — the White House lists only disease categories, not drugs.
• How much of the $19.6 billion is new: CSL's pledge rests on a $1.5 billion expansion it has been building toward since 2018, and Kyowa Kirin's North Carolina plant broke ground in August 2024.
• What "90% of the market" measures — revenue, prescriptions, units or covered drugs. No denominator has been published.